The American Museum of Natural History has an exhibition on the Silk Road. It looks pretty good, and there even seems to be a bit on agrobiodiversity. I mean apart from the obvious, the silkworm and the camel. In particular, you get a look at the night markets of Turfan.
Surprisingly, visitors to markets along the ancient Silk Road—long before overnight shipping and refrigeration—could also choose from an array of foreign delicacies. As travelers moved along trade routes, they introduced their own ingredients and recipes to foreign lands. Over time, such exotic edibles became familiar features on local menus.
Check the video at the 2:18 mark. Not bad, I guess. But was it too much to ask for — having come so far — to include something about the role of this trade route in the spread of at least crops like the apple and wheat?
If you read William of Rubruck’s account of his journey in Mongol times, one gains the impression he ate his way across the the whole of Asia. He was alway sconcerned when his next meal would arrive.
Melons were the big thing, they carried water inside them and were not subject to dessication like other fruits. Melons were brought west in vast quantities. Rhubarb was another food item that was highly prized during this period. Interestingly, although grapes came from SW Asia region – modern day Georgia – they were not introduced to Turfan and the oasis in the Taklamakan until trade flourished with the Abassid and T’ang interchange.
The exchange of food was very much a one way exchange, and surprisingly few staples went over this route. McNeil wrote a great paper comparing the logistics of overland travel by hoof or by wheel. It was not until Timur and Chingkis when trade could make use of the steppes and the use of the cart. Before then, everything went by caravan on the back of a Bactrian camel to Kashgar. It then went to mule and donkey or human to cross the mountains and back to camel between Samarkand and Baghdad. Consider that one – a single – Portuguese caravel could carry as much cargo as a 500 animal caravan and you will understand why food took a backseat to more valuable (and durable) silk, ceramics, and spices. Gold and silver went east, along with horses and metal work. It was simply uneconomical to bring anything bulky west. Much of the fruit that the Arabs acquired came through India and the southern trade routes. While a dhow didn’t carry the cargo of the caravan, the monsoon brought them to port in a short month, not the 2 year journey that was the Kashgar to Baghdad.
Fascinating; thanks. And there are lots of online resources for William of Rubruck’s voyages. I found one here that looked easy to use.